Sin and Sanctuary
by fadedsun
Summary: Bella meets a handsome, mysterious stranger at a turning point in her life. After the death of her mother, she is ready for something new to happen in her boring monotonous world. Can the mysterious stranger provide her with the challenge she needs?
1. Chapter 1

**Really Long Author's Note:** Hey everyone! Thanks for reading. I just wanted to say that I am aware that this fan fiction starts off like a lot of fan fiction's do, but this is totally a different story that I am telling, so please stick with me while I set up the characters and the world in which they live [my head]. There will definitely be a lot of smut, angst and fluff all mixed in together. I hope that I get the correct ratio of each ;) Just a warning for future chapters… The Edward in this story has a very dark side to him and some people may find it a little uncomfortable. Please be warned now: **If you are not comfortable reading about Edward's very Dark side, please do not read this story. Apparently, M is the highest rating now on . I would personally rate this NC-17, at least for future chapters.** Otherwise, read and review! I want to hear anything you have to say about my story, good or bad. I have written quite a few chapters for this already, so If I get a good response I will post them up _quickly_. Also I don't have a beta reader, so if there are any errors please just ignore them or let me know and I will fix it up :)

Also to any readers that have read my other story Meant to Be, and are waiting on an update: I'm really sorry. Let me just say I hate myself enough for not updating it in FOREVER. But, my creative juices just stopped flowing after the first 3 chapters. I DO plan on updating that, and maybe writing this story will help kickstart that process. I know what it's like when a story I am following seems to just disappear off the face of the earth. It pisses me right off. I hope you guys can understand that Meant to Be is on the shelf for just a little while longer.

**Summary: **Bella is a 25 year old editor who works at a publishing company in Seattle. While in Phoenix for her mother's funeral, She meets a handsome, mysterious stranger at the bar. After the death of her mother, and a few too many shots of Cuervo, she is ready for something new to happen in her boring monotonous world. She tries to turn over a new leaf upon her arrival back home. Can the mysterious stranger provide her with the challenge she needs? Or, will it be too much for her to handle? AU/AH **NC-17 in future chapters. Dark Edward.  
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I sat on the cheap bar stool, one hand holding up my head, while the other hand gripped the small shot glass in front of me. It was empty. The bartender continued to refill it when I asked, and I continued to swallow them down when I could muster up the courage and forget about the bad taste of the Cuervo tequila. I don't usually drink, especially straight spirits, but today was one hell of a day, and I needed a release.

Today was my mother's funeral. Today, I buried my mother. Six feet under the ground. She died on Tuesday 13th January, 2009, a day that I will never forget. I got the call at work. My secretary, Mike, who screens all my calls for me, had come bursting into my office in the middle of a meeting with a young writer named Stephenie. I was in the middle of telling her that the fourth book in her series was going to need a serious restructure if it were going to sell. I had stood up in shock, ready to tear him a new asshole when the look on his face stopped me. He looked absolutely terrified and I knew then that something was wrong. He couldn't even tell me. I found myself just screaming at him to tell me what had happened and all he could muster up was "Your Mum…". I ran out, picked up the phone on his desk and stood there silently as the doctor on the other end of the line told me that my mother, Renee had passed away in hospital as a result of severe bodily injuries and head trauma that she suffered from a car accident. A drunken driver had run a red light and T-boned her car. Phil, her husband and my step-father, survived.

I was numb after that. I didn't return to work, and flew straight out of Seattle to Phoenix last night. To be honest, I didn't feel anything. I didn't cry. I just felt… empty. My mother and I hadn't spoken in over 5 years. She was too busy leading the life she wished she'd had when she was in her twenties. Instead, she had given birth to me and then left myself and my father shortly after. Our relationship wasn't exactly what you would consider a normal mother daughter relationship. So in one way, I guess I didn't even know what I was supposed to be grieving for, considering I had never had it in the first place.

Charlie, my father, didn't come to the funeral. Not because he wasn't upset. He just wanted to deal with it in his own way, by himself. I take after my father in that way. I had always been independent and I never needed anyone for anything. It's a way of life that I had become accustomed to. And I really didn't see anything better. I was happy. Sure my life lacked a few things, a sex life especially, but who didn't go though a dry spell every now and then?

Pfft, who was I kidding? 3 years was more than a dry spell. It was a fucking drought. I looked up around me, suddenly realizing I was in the hotel bar of the Mondrian Hotel Phoenix and that now was not the time to go off into one of my daydreams, and start talking to myself, which I tended to do when I was deep in thought. I looked around, the crowd surprisingly small. I thought for a Friday night, that there would be more people around.

"Another one, please?" I tried to find my voice but it came out croaky and hoarse. The bartender, James, looked up, a little startled, and refilled my shot glass. "Thank you". He looked at me and smiled politely. He was alright looking. He had long blonde hair which was smoothed back into a low pony tail. And he was buff. I could see it under his long sleeve white collared shirt. Maybe he could break my drought for me? Hmm, I thought to myself. I wonder how many sad pathetic women try to pick him up after a few drinks. I grabbed a handful of bar nuts and stuffed them into my mouth, chewing away feverously as I resolved to never be one of those sad pathetic drunk women.

I began allowing myself to travel off into my disturbing thoughts when a man cleared his throat behind me with a very loud cough. His voice seemed so close to my ear that it actually scared me and I began choking on the peanuts in my mouth, spluttering and even spitting a few out onto poor James. What I assumed was the same man that coughed began to pat me on the back and chuckle softly. I turned around to see who this man was and my jaw dropped. A tall figure, about 6 foot, stood before me. His skin was a creamy pale colour, and he was wearing a grey long sleeved knit sweater and dark denim jeans. Just like with James, he had subtle but strong muscles along his arms and a stocky torso that I could see underneath his clothing.

I coughed one last time into my fisted up hand.

"Excuse me, a glass of water for the lady?" I looked up and realized he was talking to the bartender, who seemed to be quite intimidated by this guy, running to get me a glass of water and placing it before me. I swiveled around on my bar stool and grabbed the glass, drinking it in one go.

"Are you okay?" The stranger questioned. I simply nodded, not sure why he was standing next to me, or why he even cared.

"Is this seat taken?" He gestured towards to bar stool next to me, waiting.

I shook my head, trying to find my voice "No, no… it's not- No you can sit there. If you want, I mean…" I started blurting out complete crap. Oh shit, was I nervous? You hit the nail on the head, James. This guy was intimidating.

"I'm Edward Cullen. Sorry to give you a startle like that… I just couldn't help but notice you and I guess I was trying to get your attention. Not how I had intended it to happen, though" He looked at me and smiled.

It was only then that I noticed the piercing emerald green eyes that stared back at me. I felt like I could see into his soul. Damn, that was the Cuervo talking and I knew it. I looked straight back at him, admiring his bronze shade of hair that was messed up in all the right places.

"My name is Isabella Swan. But, call me Bella." I smiled. I was trying to be coy and flirty, but I wasn't sure how well I was doing. I wasn't sure if I even knew _how_ to flirt. But this guy was hot. I would flirt if it killed me.

He smiled politely and ordered a Corona with lime.

"Rough Day?" He questioned and I was a little confused. Did I look that shocking? He seemed to pick up on my confusion and gestured towards the empty shot glass in front of me.

"Oh… Um, yeah. You have no idea…" I looked down and began to twirl the shot glass around in my fingers, absent mindedly.

"Oh yeah, and why is that?" He asked. I looked over at him and was a little taken aback by how much he seemed to be genuinely interested.

"Um… I buried my mother today" I had no idea why I spurted that out and frankly I had no idea how he was going to respond.

"Wow, I am really sorry to hear about that"

"It's okay… It's... Her and I… we were complicated you know?" I looked up at him with a slight smile and I hoped that he wouldn't ask me about it anymore.

"Life is certainly complicated, Bella." He reached over and placed his hand on top of one of my hands that were resting on the bar. I looked up at him as he gently caressed the top of my hand with his thumb. The feeling that pulsated through my body stirred me up more that I had thought it would. I couldn't believe how much I instantly wanted this guy. It was so unlike me.

We sat there for a few moments, his hand over mine, and to my surprise it wasn't awkward at all. Although he was intimidating, I felt very safe with him. I sort of felt like I trusted him. And I wanted him to do very bad things to me with that hand. I coughed to distract myself from my thoughts, and he must have read that as a hint and took his hand away from mine, ordering another beer.

"I love corona's." I suddenly had this urge to hold his attention and keep him from leaving.

"Really? I didn't peg you as the type to drink beer?" He questioned.

I reached over, grabbed his bottle of beer and took a slow sip. I made sure to lick the mouth of the bottle a little bit when I had finished, hoping to be just a tiny bit seductive. I placed the bottle back in front of him and he chuckled, shaking his head from side to side.

"The first mouthful always tastes the best" I smiled smugly.

"I don't doubt that…" He trailed off, eyeing me curiously. He seemed like he was deep in thought, pondering something important. I looked down to make sure I didn't have any peanut crumbs on me, and brushed off my pants. I wasn't wearing anything too suggestive. I was still dressed for my mother's funeral after all. A cream, long sleeve sheer blouse, black business pants and black stilettos.

I don't know what it was, but I suddenly had this surge of confidence. Like, I knew what I wanted and I was going to get it. I stood my back up straight and turned to him bravely.

"So where are you from?"

"I'm from Seattle. I'm here on business actually, just for the weekend. What about you?"

"I'm actually from Seattle too… Here for the funeral, obviously. But I'm an editor for a publishing company. I go home tomorrow morning"

"Oh yeah?" He seemed to ponder that over for a bit, so I took this as an opportunity to get another drink.

"Would you like to do a shot with me?" I hoped he would say yes. If he said yes to a shot, he might say yes to other things I wanted to share with him…

He looked up at me and squinted his eyes, still obviously thinking. I smiled back at him, raising an eyebrow to get some sort of response from him.

"Sure… why not? Although, just the one… I have an early start tomorrow"

I ordered too shots of Cuervo and then realized I didn't even know what business he was here for.

"So, what do you do Edward?"

"I'm actually a doctor. I work at Seattle Children's Hospital. I'm here for a conference. I have to make a speech tomorrow in front of the top 200 Doctor's in the country."

"Shit! I mean… Wow I would be a nervous wreck if I were you. I hate speaking in public". He was a doctor. Well, If I wasn't intimidated before, I am now. This guy was definitely out-of-my-league.

"I don't mind it. I see it as a challenge" He mused.

"Well," I said, holding up my shot glass "Here's to life's challenges". He clinked his glass against mine and we both swallowed the golden liquid in one go. He seemed like a really genuine person. Granted, I had only known him for all of 20 minutes, but I just felt really connected to him. I know how lame that sounds but I'm more than a little tipsy ok?

We sat there for a little while longer before I finally mustered up my last ounce of courage and just spat it out before there was no going back.

"So, I was wondering… Would you like to come up to my room for some coffee or something?" I had no idea how to do what I was doing. I had never done it before. Hell, I had only slept with 2 people in my whole life, and neither had been initiated by me. I just said what I had always heard people say in the movies. "Coffee" was like the universal code word for "sex" wasn't it? Damn, I knew I was failing at this, hard.

"Listen, Bella…" He started. He seemed apprehensive but he also looked like he was battling with himself over something in his head. I realized that I was about to be horribly rejected, so I started to babble.

"I mean, if you don't like coffee… There is always tea. I think I even saw some green tea sachets by the mini bar. And… there is also the tap water and I think there's orange juice in the fridge…"

My whole face was going a complete shade of deep red, I could just feel it. What the hell was I thinking? Of course he didn't want to have sex with me. God, I felt so stupid. I looked away from him and put my face in the palms of my hands, trying to hide my embarrassment.

I chanced a peak through my fingers at the God in front of me. He seemed somewhat amused by my demeanor but refrained from laughing at me. I bet it took all the strength in his body to not laugh at me. God, I was pathetic. I lifted my head, and he reached out to place the palm of his hand against my cheek, bringing my face towards his.

"I would _love_ to stay here a little longer and get to know you. But I have to be up really early to prepare for my speech." I sighed as he searched in his inner jacket pocket and handed me his business card.

"If you would ever like to catch up again, in Seattle, I would _really_ like that, Bella"

I had to try my best to hide my excitement and come across as indifferent but I was sure he could see right through me. I reached out to grab the card before he pulled it away from me, holding it just out of my reach. I looked up at him quizzically and he smiled with his lips ever so slightly toward one side of his face, exposing his pristine white teeth just a tiny bit

"There is something you should know about me first".

Oh great, he was married. Perfect ending to an even better day. What was I thinking? How could this guy NOT be married, he was like a fucking God. I couldn't hide my dismay and I lowered my hand to my lap, not expecting to get the card back.

"I think it is safe to assume that, I am not the type of guy you would regularly go for, and I'm also going to warn you that you will most likely be stepping out of your comfort zone with me…" He eyed me up and down with a smug look on his face that made me flush a deep crimson red. I had NO idea what he was trying to allude to.

"But, I think you seem like the type of girl who is ready to try something new. A new _challenge_." He concluded, slowly moving his hand back in my direction. He lifted my hand off my lap and placed the card in my palm. I felt a bolt of electricity surge through me in that moment and I was shocked that this man had such an affect on me. He gave me another crooked smile before lifting up his laptop case and swinging it over his shoulder. For a brief moment I saw an exposed piece of flesh on his lower abdomen as his arms lifted up to get the strap across his shoulders. And, oh my god… is that his snail trail?

"I hope to hear from you, soon. It was a pleasure to meet you Isabella." He reached out to shake my hand and then walked off towards the elevator. I was pretty sure my jaw was literally on the flaw. I couldn't even move, my right hand still extended out in shaking mode. I looked down at the card in my hand. It was simple. Plain Black cursive font spelled out his name, _Edward Cullen_ and a contact phone number. That was it. Could this man have any more mystery about him?

I sat there for a few more moments thinking about what had just happened. Had I really asked this man, this completely gorgeous stranger back to my room? What was I thinking? And why was I a little bit hurt that he had turned me down? Well, he didn't really turn me down, did he? Of course he did. He didn't want to come up to my room. That was definitely a NO in my books. But he did give me his card. And he said that he would like to see me again. I was confused. This wasn't something I was used to dealing with. I wasn't used to dealing with men at all. I would definitely need my roommates to decipher the man-language when I got back home.

I sighed. The bartender made his way down towards me

"Last drinks Miss. We are closing in 10 minutes. Would you like one more?" I looked at my watch to see it was 12:50am. Christ.

"Sure". The bartender poured me my last shot. I didn't need it. Surely if I was tipsy enough to ask a complete stranger to have sex with me, I definitely didn't need another drink. But the realisation of what happened hit me petty hard and I needed something to knock these thoughts out of my head. I placed the business card in my evening purse, swallowed the last shot of tequila and slapped some money down on the bench before I headed back toward my room, barely able to walk in a straight line.

I made it to my room easily enough. I placed my purse on the counter. I quickly took off my watch and jewelry and collapsed onto the bed, too tired and tipsy to get changed.

I was glad this day was over, that's for sure. Tomorrow, I could try to forget everything about Edward Cullen and write it off as a nice but somewhat embarrassing ending to a horrible day. Tomorrow, I would be back in Seattle, back in my apartment that I shared with my two best friends, Tomorrow, I would be back at work and tomorrow, I would back to my normal life.

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Thanks for reading. Please Review =)  
Anything about this chapter that you loved or absolutely hated. Do you see it going somewhere good? Or does it feel like a dead-end? What do you want to see more of?


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** So here is Chapter 2... up pretty soon as I want to continue the setting up of the characters. I have a few links on my profile that I have put up, and I will be continually adding throughout the story so that you guys can get a good visual too [incase my written visuals suck haha]. Just keep in mind that I don't actually live in Seattle, so I'm making most of the locations etc up. Also, in this story Alice has long hair. Check out my profile page for pictures of all the characters, as well as Bella's office and Apartment. Thanks for reading and **PLEASE REVIEW!!!**

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I stood at the foot of the stoop that let up to my Seattle apartment that I shared with my 2 best friends, Alice and Emmett, luggage in hand.

It was sunny today which made the freezing weather quite mild considering it was mid-winter. I was dressed in many layers of clothing, but there was no wind and if I stood in the sun long enough, I thought I might be able to get warm, eventually.

There was something in the air today. I felt… renewed. Yeah, that was the word for it. I felt like I was stating fresh. For some reason, I had this feeling like things were going to change. Something grand was about to happen and I was excited.

I made my way up the stoop, into the elevator and up to what had become my home in Seattle- Apartment 3C.

Before I could even get my key in the lock, it had swung open and I had been tackled by a pixie- my best girlfriend on the planet, Alice.

Alice was gorgeous- She had long brunette hair, similar to mine. She had a small frame, probably only about 5'2'', but she made up for in personality what she lacked in height. She had an endless supply of energy, and was a shopping fanatic, a habit that I had picked up since we became friends. She owned her own clothing boutique in Seattle called _Fortune Teller_. It was a long running joke that Alice could see the future, and it was quite creepy when she got a feeling about something, because she was usually right. Nobody ever betted against Alice. We had only been friends for 3 years. When she finished studying fashion in Paris, she returned to Seattle- god knows why- looking for a place to live. I had interviewed her for the spare room in my apartment, and she was perfect. We have been inseparable ever since. She was the most reliable person in my life. And currently, she was squeezing me so tight that I couldn't even breathe. She had a surprising amount of strength for someone so small.

"I missed you so much, Bella. How are you? How was the service?" She looked at me with nervous eyes, probably expecting me to stat crying or something.

"I'm fine. Really. Everything went without a hitch. I didn't even cry." I tried to reassure her, although I'm sure I wasn't very successful.

It was then that Emmett popped his head around the corner, with a big cheesy grin on his face. He embraced me with a big bear hug; lifting me about 2 feet off the ground. Emmett was huge. He was over 6 foot tall, with short brown/blonde hair and BUFF. He had muscles all over his body, and he could be quite scary if you didn't know him. He was a pro football player, but he was just a big teddy bear on the inside.

"I'm Glad you're back Bella." He smiled at me.

"Thanks guys, you're really sweet. If you don't mind I'd probably just like to spend the rest of the day by myself. Unpacking and everything, you know…"

"That will not be a problem. Emmett and I were just about to head out anyway" Alice nudged Emmett's side enthusiastically.

"We were?" He looked puzzled, and I knew that this was the first he had heard about it. "Oh, right. Yep. I'm just starving, and uh… I had a huge caving for Pepperoni Pizza!" Alice smiled at Emmett in approval.

"Can we bring anything back for you Bella?"

"No thanks guys, I ate on the plane. But have fun" I smiled. I had to give them credit. They got the hint that I didn't feel like socializing and they were trying to be accommodating. They really were the best friends I could ask for.

"Bye then!" I called out, moving my suitcase inside as Alice literally dragged Emmett down the hall-way to the elevator. I saw her whispering into Emmett's ear just as the apartment door swung shut. I sighed, looking around. I suddenly realized that I was expecting something to have changed, but there was no difference. It was exactly the same. I'm not sure why, but this disappointed me.

I opened the room to my door, laying my suitcase on the bed. I grabbed my iPod from my handbag, and decided to put on some Kings of Leon while I unpacked. I was a huge fan, and I found them soothing and relaxing and sexy all at the same time. I began unpacking mindlessly, while singing along to my favourite song on the album, _Revelry_.

_Just know it was you all along who had a hole in my heart, but the demon in me was the best of friends from the start._

I couldn't help but begin to dance, slowly, and subtly… the music moved me. I swayed my hips back and forth, spreading my arms up above my head as the soothing beat of the drums and bass seemed to take me over. And for some reason, it reminded me of Renee.

_See the time we shared it was precious to me, all the while I was dreaming of revelry._

It seemed to describe her exactly… I was her only daughter, and I had no doubt that she loved me, but she had to live her life. Satisfy her demons, or she wouldn't have been happy. It seemed I was having an epiphany. I stood there, in the middle of my room with my mouth open, staring at the wall. And it was then that I sat down on my bed and began to sob. I wasn't sure why I was crying, but once the tears had started, they weren't going to stop. I realised then, that I respected my mother. I had to, because she took a chance. She lived her life, and she took chances. Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do by me, but I tuned out okay in the end. I got through college with top grades, I had a great paying job, great friends and a place to live. And I'm pretty sure I was mentally stable. No long-lasting damage was done to me. And even though I couldn't deny the resentment that I sometimes felt toward her for leaving my father and me, I admired her for risking everything she had to do what she felt she needed and wanted.

It was a quality I had not inherited from her. I was so much like my dad. I never took risks. I was always reserved, well mannered and polite. I thought my decisions through before I made them. I always paid my bills on time and saved whatever I could. I didn't get drunk every weekend and party like crazy. I never had one-night stands. Hell, I've only had sex with 2 guys and I'm now 25. I tried to not linger on that thought… I was in a nice, secure job and everything in my life was safe. I had a routine that I followed and it made me happy. Or so I thought. If I was so happy with my life, then why was I jealous that my dead mother had the guts to abandon me and live her 20s like some crazed hippie? What kind of reasoning was that? I was simply going crazy. What the hell was wrong with me?

I sat on my bed, head in my palms. As the sobbing turned into full on wailing, I heard a click and then a creak as the door handle to my bedroom was turned and then opened. I looked up to see Alice approaching my bedroom with a pained expression on her face, and Emmett leaning against the threshold of my door.

"Oh, Alice!" I mumbled and as she sat down on the bed next to me I shoved my face into her shoulder and she hugged me back as tight as she could.

"Shhh, My beautiful Bella. It's ok" She rubbed my back with the palm of her hand. "Let it out"

"She... She couldn't help it! She had demons… She had to leave me. And it's ok." I blubbered. I knew she couldn't have understood what I was saying but that didn't stop me from telling her.

"I forgive her… I love her... I just… I- I understand now, why and… and I'm not mad at her anymore Alice. I want her to know that" I looked up at Emmett as he walked over and sat on the other side of me. He turned down the sound on my iPod until it was a faint sound in the background.

"I think she knows" Emmett seemed like he was thinking out loud. He grabbed my hand and placed it in both of his, staring ahead of himself instead of looking at me.

"Sometimes, we think we know everything. We think that nothing could burst the little bubble we are in, and we all have our assumptions, and we usually never change them. We judge people, based on their behaviours, what they look like, what they say. And people judge us by the same token. But sometimes, Life throws things at that little bubble. It tries to chip away at everything that makes you, you. It might be something little, or something big. Sometimes, it's even something sad. And we are never ready for it. And it's hard. I know, it can be really hard. But sometimes, when we experience major life changing events, it makes us realize that really we never knew anything at all."

I looked at Alice, and then back at Emmett. We both had stunned looks on our faces. Emmett smiled, and continued.

"What I'm trying to say Bella, is that we all have to make decisions in life. Hard decisions. Your mum made such decisions. She took a leap and it led her to a place where she could find happiness. Now, I don't want to disrespect you or your mum, but I think that she had faith that one day you would understand her decision. And it seems to me like you have. Maybe you will even take your own leap of faith." He seemed content with that and looked over at me, reaching to pull a few stray strands of hair that had stuck to my face.

"Wow, Emmett… I…" I didn't even know what to say. To be honest I didn't think Emmett had that kind of depth to him, and I felt terrible for thinking that. He had always been the goofy, fun one, not the deep philosophical one.

"That was really profound" Alice concluded, nodding silently to herself.

"Come here you" He reached over and grabbed me, hugging me tightly.

"We didn't really leave. I'm sorry. I just knew…" Her chirpy voice trailed off before I interrupted.

"It's okay Alice. I'm actually glad you came back. It's the first time I have cried since she died, and you guys have made me feel a lot better about everything that I'm feeling right now"

"Oh honey, I can't imagine. It must be so hard"

"You know what, it's weird. I sort of feel… peaceful. And this might sound really strange… But I have just felt like she's where she needs to be. That maybe she's finally found real happiness"

"I hope she has too, Bella"

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Before I knew it, it was Thursday. I'm not sure how the week went by so fast. I was so immersed in my work that I had little time to do anything else. Because of my few days off after my mother's death, I had hundreds of emails to catch up on and I currently had 3 different manuscripts to edit by Monday. It didn't sound like a lot, but I was meticulous and thorough, to say the least. I loved my job. I loved being surrounded by people that loved to write everyday, and I loved that I played some part in making their dream of getting their novel published come true.

I had hoped that one day I would become a writer. But I never found anything that I wrote good enough, and I had certainly never showed it to anyone. My stories stayed locked on my laptop.

I was interrupted by a faint knock on the door. It was Mike, my assistant. Mike had dirty blonde hair. He was short, but he made up for that in muscle. He was as camp as a row of pink tents, and I loved him. He had quickly become a close friend when I started work here 3 years ago, and I could always count on him providing funny social commentary on what was going on around the office, or anything for that matter. He especially liked to pick on me, but I didn't mind.

"Sweetie, its 5:45. When are you gonna go home?"

I looked up from my manuscript and leaned back in my chair, stretching my arms out above my head, yawning.

"I know... I know… I just, wanna make sure I'm finished everything by the weekend"

He leaned on the door and smiled at me.

"You work much too hard. You know everybody else has left. You're the last one here"

"Shit, really?" I sighed. I knew Mike was right, but I couldn't help being passionate about my job.

"You know, you're never gonna find yourself a man if all you do is work at this lousy joint for ten hours a day" He began to pick at his fingernails, seemingly disinterested, although I knew he was trying to get a reaction out of me. He loved to pick on my constant single status.

"Ha! Mikey, you know you're the only man for me" I smiled.

"Honey, you better go see a shrink if you think I'm the right man for you". And with that he turned around and swaggered out of the office.

"I'm outta here, See you tomorrow!" He called out as I heard the elevator ding.

"Bye" I said, mostly to myself. I stared down at the manuscript in front of me, but it was no use. Mike had pulled me out of my little bubble and distracted me. There was no chance of me concentrating on anything now. Because now, all I could think about was _Edward Cullen_.

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**Questions, Comments, Advice or Improvements in the Reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

"You WHAT?!"

"Alice please don't get mad at me…"

"I cannot believe you! This is major news Bella, and you didn't even think to share it with me?! How could you wait a whole week to tell me about it!"

The pixie was screaming at me. Screaming at me because I hadn't brought up the subject of _Edward Cullen_ yet. To be honest, I had been too busy. Catching up on work had been a nightmare, and I didn't really remember until Mike had begun to bug me about 'not having a man' earlier today. Up until this afternoon, Edward Cullen hadn't even been in my thoughts. But since my little conversation with Mike, he hasn't been out of them.

"Jeez Bella, I thought we were friends" The pixie was glaring at me. I was sitting on the couch in the lounge room, and she was standing over me with her arms crossed… I had to admit I was a little scared.

"Alice, come on. Of course we are friends. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the second I got home. I've just had other things on my mind. I'm telling you now aren't I?" I pleaded.

With that, she sat on the couch next to me, still with her arms crossed, but she seemed a little less tense.

"Dammit Bella, you had better tell me every single detail about him and what happened or our friendship is over. Over, ok?"

"I swear I will tell you everything Alice. I need your help anyway, I am so confused right now" I shook my head in dismay. Going over the details and analyzing everything again would surely kill me.

"Start from the Top"

And with that order from Alice, we spent the next two hours carefully dissecting every tiny detail about the twenty minutes that I had spent with Edward Cullen in Phoenix. It was utterly exhausting to say the least.

"Well, you have to call him. Now" She looked over at me, with a spoonful of triple chocolate ice cream waiting right in front of her mouth, ready to be swallowed.

"No way! Are you serious?" I sure as hell was not ready to call him. And I was almost as sure that he didn't want to hear from me.

"Bella. Listen to me. I am all-knowing ok?" She tapped her forehead with her finger, "So just quit your bitching and call him right now". She stood up, grabbed the cordless phone off its base and put her arm out to give it to me.

I moved back a foot.

"Alice, no! How do you know he hasn't forgotten who I am? As if he would want to hear from me! I was drunk, and not in my right mindset…" I tried to hide a shudder as I thought back to that night.

"Besides, I don't even know where his card is..." I suddenly remembered. Yes! That would save me from calling him.

"WHAT! You don't know where his card is? Oh my God, Bella. Sometimes I wonder about you…" She shot up off the couch, stomped over to my room and proceeded to pull open all my drawers, cupboards, everything, looking for this card.

"Alice, don't! That's private!" I tried to stop her as she pulled open the top drawer of my bedside table. Everyone knows you _don't_ go through the top drawer of someone's bedside table.

She stopped, reached a hand in and pulled out my purple Rabbit vibrator, and spun around. Fuck.

"You know what Bella, If you could find the balls to call Cullen, maybe you wouldn't need this so often?!" She swung the object back and forth in front of her with a small smirk on her face.

I began to blush about ten different shades of red when Emmett came up behind me and grabbed me around the waist.

"Whoa ho ho! What are you two lovely ladies getting up to in here?!" He eyed off the object in Alice's hand eagerly and looked at me, expecting an answer.

"Oh my God… Alice! Put it away!!!" I buried my face in my hands.

"Oh hey now Bella baby, no need to get embarrassed. We _all _have needs."

Alice was giggling uncontrollably at my discomfort.

"Bella, sometimes you can be such a prude. We are all friends here; there is no need to be so shy. It's just _sex_." Alice turned and placed the object back into my drawer, much to my relief.

Emmett chuckled to himself and turned to leave. I walked over and sat on my bed.

"Alright, what were you wearing that night?"

That was easy.

"My black business pants, White ruffle blouse… They are in my dirty laundry though"

"Are there any pockets in the pants?"

I walked over to my dirty clothes basket and moved my clothes around until I found the pants. Reaching into the pocket, I found nothing but lint.

"Nope… nothing in there"

"Where would you have put the card? You did keep it right?"

"Yeah I kept it, but I was very drunk when he gave it to me…" I strained my brain to try and think where I would have put it. I didn't have a jacket on…

"My purse! It's in my purse!"

I opened my cupboard doors, and began searching through my drawers, Alice following suite. If I hadn't been so distracted when I unpacked, this process would be so much easier.

"Found it…" I opened the clasp on my purse and pulled out a white business card.

Alice grabbed it out of my hands in an instant and examined both the front and back of it, squinting her eyes.

"Mysterious…"

Just as I was about to agree with her, she had uan out to the lounge room, grabbed the phone off the couch and proceeded to quickly dial the number in.

"Alice Wait! I… No! I don't even know what I'm going to…"

She held up a finger to my lips to silence me, moving up backwards onto the coffee table to keep me out of reach. I guess she didn't realize that even though she was standing on the coffee table, we were at eye level. It was no use fighting with her though.

"Yes hello, I am calling for Edward Cullen."

My heart proceeded to pound away furiously in my chest. Fuck! Fuck, Fuck, FUCK! I couldn't even think straight right now, how was I supposed to hold a coherent conversation with a sexy mysterious stranger?! I didn't even get 5 minutes to process my thoughts. Alice would surely pay for this… Someway, somehow.

"I'm afraid the matter is quite personal. If I could speak with him urgently please…"

What the fuck? A personal matter? I imagined the person on the other end of the line. I imagined that she must get numerous 'personal' phone calls for Edward Cullen from desperate pathetic women every day. Desperate, pathetic women like _me_.

"Bella!" Alice was trying to scream at me while whispering at the same time, her hand extended out with the phone in front of my face, covering the mouth piece.

"Fuck" I mumbled.

I grabbed the phone, and put it to my ear

"Hello? … Hello?!" The voice at the other end of the line sounded pissed. Fuck, where was my voice?

"Hello! Hi, is this… Is this Edward Cullen?"

"Speaking…" Now the voice at the other end of the line sounded disinterested. Alice rolled her eyes at me, motioning with her hands for me to spit something out.

"Hi, Edward. It's… It's Bella Swan here" As if he would remember me.

"Mmm Hmmm" Now the voice sounded just plain bored.

"We uh, met about a week ago in Phoenix." I was the drunken depressed loser.

"What can I do for you Bella?" Well you could come over and fuck me senseless you gorgeous man.

"Well, I'm just calling, 'cos you gave me your card, and um…"

Alice looked down right pissed off at me now.

"Well, would you like to uh, catch up for dinner or something? This weekend?" I looked at Alice with an expression on my face that said: God, put me out of my misery now.

"I'm sorry, but I actually have made prior arrangements this weekend. Could I give you a call next week and we could possibly arrange something then?"

I'm pretty sure that my stomach sunk to my feet in that moment. That was a definite rejection in my books.

"Oh, sure Edward. Yep. Not a problem"

"Just leave your number with my secretary and I will call you soon"

"Okay… Bye"

"Goodbye, Isabella"

And with that, I hung up the phone and sighed. I didn't like it when people called me Isabella, and the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end. Now Alice had a look on her face that said she felt sorry for me.

"He's busy this weekend. He said he'd call me next week" I slumped down onto the couch, my mood totally ruined.

"That's Good! Right? But you didn't give him your number?"

"And I'm not going to. I could tell by his voice that he wasn't interested, Alice."

"Come on, Bella, that's not true. How could he not be interested in you? He said he would call you, didn't he? If he didn't want to call you, he would have said so."

I processed that through my head, and while it made sense, he was probably just being polite.

"He was just being polite, Alice. I could tell."

"You're wrong Bella."

"No, I'm not okay?"

I stood up, slightly pissed off at Alice for making me do it in the first place, although I know it wasn't her fault. I went to the fridge to grab a bottle of water, trying to distract myself.

"I'm gonna head to bed"

"Goodnight, Bella"

I knew she wanted to try and convince me that Edward was going to be my perfect match, but I simply wasn't in the mood. There's nothing like a kill of your self-confidence to put a damper on your day.

I woke up on Saturday at 1:13 in the afternoon. How the fuck did that happen?

The sun was trying to peek through my curtains, but my body was not interested. I rolled over and placed a pillow over my head. I felt groggy and similar to being hung-over. I wasn't even up that late last night. I had watched The Sound of Music with Alice, much to Emmett's dismay, and gone to bed around 11pm. How could I have possibly slept for 14 hours?! I was more like a 6.5 hour a night girl. I concluded that the past 2 weeks had finally taken its toll on my body and it was trying to recuperate.

I decided that a run on the treadmill would wake my body up, and hoped that spending the rest of the afternoon going over some manuscripts would mean that I wouldn't waste a total day.

I rolled out of bed, grabbed my iPod and walked out to the lounge room. Emmett and Alice must have gone out, as the place was quiet as a mouse. I did some warm-up stretches, before jumping on our communal treadmill and setting it at a steady pace on a steep incline.

I set my gym playlist on shuffle, and Fergalicious by Fergie pounded through my headphones. I couldn't help but bop my head along to the beat. Twenty minutes and 2.5km later, Alice came busting through the door. I decided to ignore her and keep my headphones in, looking down at the LCD screen in front of me.

I looked up to see Alice standing in front of the treadmill, shopping bags in tow, waving at me, trying to get my attention. I simply smirked at her, but kept my headphones in.

She raised an eyebrow, raised her middle finger at me and then smiled.

What was she up to?

She pointed at me, and then pointed at herself. She reached down and pulled out two dresses, flinging the white one over the top of the treadmill, pointing at me. She then held the yellow one up against her body and pretended to do a modeling pose, pouting her lips and blowing air kisses to me.

I laughed, and shook my head. She knew I hated it when she bought me clothing.

She bent down, and grabbed a pair of tan stacked gladiator heels, and a pair of black pointed toe stilettos. She put her hands in the gladiator heels and pretended to walk them over towards me, mid air, and then placed them on the floor next to my treadmill. She then placed the black stilettos next to her yellow dress.

She raised her hand up at me, as if to gesture "wait", and ran off into the kitchen. Really, Alice, where was I going to go?

She came back with a bottle of champagne in her hand. She placed the bottle in between her legs, and pretended to pop the cork, and drink from the mouth of the bottle. I rolled my eyes back at her, slowing down the pace on my treadmill.

Alice then began dancing all around the room, doing corny 80's dance moves like the snorkel, the lawn mower and the shopping trolley. I couldn't help but laugh. She then looked over expectantly at me, raising one eyebrow.

I stopped my treadmill, and took my ear buds out.

"Alice…" I began before she interrupted me.

"I don't care WHAT you say, we are going out tonight and that is that. I have already got us outfits, and we are going to be at _Rendezvous_ at 7:30pm."

I sighed; there was just no winning against this little pixie, especially seeing as she had already gone so far in the plans without consulting me.

"Alice, it sounds like a great idea" I smiled.

"Really?" She looked at me accusingly.

"Yeah, I think it's what I need. To let loose. It's been a rough few weeks"

Alice started jumping up and down and screaming like crazy, almost knocking me down with a hug.

"Yay! Bella. I'm so glad you are up for it. I really was not in the mood to try and convince you otherwise. And you are such a party pooper when you whine all night long" She winked at me.

I rolled my eyes at her.

"What about Emmett?" I asked

"Well, Emmett has a hot date tonight. Some skank called Tina. No, Tanya. That's it. Depending on how 'successful' the date goes, he might meet up with us afterwards."

I raised my eyebrow at Alice. How could poor Tanya possibly be a skank before Alice had even met her?"

Alice seemed to know exactly what I was thinking.

"Don't give me that look, Bella"

"What?!" I asked, trying to come across as innocent as possible.

"How about, you go get showered you hot sweaty mess, and then we'll get ready because we have an early dinner reservation at the Hyde at 5:30pm."

Before I could give her any sort of look, she snapped

"We can't go out drinking on an Empty stomach, Bella!"

"Fine. Can you do my hair for me though?"

"Duh… There is no way I am letting you out of this apartment without you looking like a piece of hot sexy ass." She smiled as she began to pack up the shopping bags and items that were in it.

I felt a whole lot better after that run, and a long hot shower was exactly what I needed

"Nice gym outfit, by the way"

I looked down, only to realize, I had done a 3km run in my favourite yellow flannelette pajamas. I laughed inwardly to myself and made my way to the communal bathroom that Emmett and I shared. I had given Alice the biggest room in the Apartment when she moved in. It had a huge walk-in-wardrobe and an ensuite. She had copiously objected, but I didn't need that much space. And she had easily filled every hook, rack and drawer in that wardrobe within minutes. I didn't mind sharing a bathroom with Emmett. He took 10 minutes to get ready in the morning, so there were never any problems.

I got undressed, but before I showered I decided to put on a mud facial mask and shave my legs over the basin. It was a weird habit. Alice had walked in on me once with a leg outstretched over the counter and a funny look on her face. But I didn't want to waste water by shaving them in the shower. Plus, I always cut myself when there was all that extra water everywhere. I wanted to have a good night tonight, and that meant feeling good too. Twenty minutes later, I was clean as a whistle and fuzz free.

I walked over to my bedroom to see that Alice had laid out my outfit on my bed for me by the time I got out of the shower. I inspected the much too revealing dress closely, to find it was a Herve Leger bandage dress. It was white, with two straps coming from the centre of the front, over the shoulders and crossing over at the back of the dress. It was pretty, but way out of my comfort zone. What kind of underwear was I supposed to wear with this? The material was so thin, and figure hugging that any piece of fabric would surely show through. I ruffled through my underwear drawer, only to find basic cotton panties. I had nothing suitable. Was I supposed to go commando?

I looked back over at the dress on the bed and saw that there was a small package next to it. I opened it up and pulled out a small piece of silky triangular fabric. It was a dark cream colour, almost the same as my skin.

Alice had even gone to Victoria's Secret and gotten me a thong to wear under the dress. I would be slightly freaked out if I wasn't so relieved that I didn't have to go commando.

I got dressed, but decided to leave the heels for the very last moment before we left. I made my way over to Alice's bathroom for her to do my hair while I stole her makeup.

Emmett was sitting on the lounge, playing on his PS3. He was dressed up in faded jeans, a white t-shirt with a black Ralph Lauren polo shit layered over the top. He even had a white beanie on. His muscles were practically bursting the seams on his shirt. Even I had to admit, he looked good.

"Hey Beautiful! Damn you look good, what are you doing tonight?"

I giggled at Emmett.

"Alice and I are doing dinner and then we are going to the Rendezvous. Are you going to join us later?"

"Yeah probably. Hey I've been meaning to talk to you about something." He patted the couch next to him, motioning for me to join him. I walked over and sat myself beside him. He wrapped his huge arm over my shoulder and pulled me closer.

"You and I have been best friends for forever. And, I love you to bits. I care about your well-being. And if you ever need any help, with anything, just say the word and I am happy to serve" He looked down at me smiling.

I was utterly confused.

"Ok… thanks Emmett, but I'm not sure what you mean?"

"I'm asking you if you want to be fuck buddies." He said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world

I didn't even know what to say. I was utterly shocked. Emmett must have noticed the scared expression across my face.

"Everybody has needs Bella. And I promise I won't fall in love with you. It'll just be sex"

Fuck… I didn't know whether to be flattered or offended!

"Emmett, I have to go get ready. I…" I couldn't even finish my sentence. I just got up and walked towards Alice's room. And that was our conversation. He was back to being totally engrossed in _Need for Speed_, seemingly unaware of how awkward that conversation would make our friendship.

The door on Alice's room was slightly ajar so I peeked my head around to see she was dressed, much to my relief.

She was dressed in a yellow figure-hugging strapless dress, and as I looked closer I realized that it was also a bandage dress.

"Christ, Alice. Are we wearing matching dresses?" I asked her as she twirled around in front of the mirror.

"No, Bella. They are completely different styles. Besides, we are going to look irresistible next to each other. We will be fighting the men off".

I rolled my eyes and walked over to her bathroom cabinet and began to apply my makeup.

Alice was currently single, but she wasn't in a 4 year drought. She literally had men falling at her feet, but her relationships never lasted more than a few days. She claimed that she could tell if a guy was "the one" or not, the second they met, but kept most of them around for a bit longer purely for entertainment. I wished I could be so lucky.

"I have a feeling tonight is going to be a really great night, Bella" Alice smiled her knowing smile as she pulled and tugged at my hair, curling it with an iron and suffocating me with a shitload of hairspray.

By 5:00pm we were made up and ready to go.

"Have fun tonight you sexy things! Don't break too many hearts!" Emmet said winking at me.

"Good Luck with your Date, Emmett. And remember, No Glove, No Love." Alice smiled, holding the door open waiting for me.

I did a final check of my outfit, grabbed my shoes, purse, a quick spritz of perfume, and made my way out the door. Despite myself, I was actually quite excited for a night out on the town with Alice.

We grabbed a cab within 30 seconds- a record. I giggled to myself as I realized how utterly ridiculous we must look, this dressed up so early in the evening.

"Where to, ladies?" The greasy cab driver eyed us off in the rear-view mirror.

"The Hyde" Alice ordered, and turned to look at me very seriously.

"Bella, we're friends right?"

Oh shit, I didn't like the sound of this

"Yes…" This was best approached with extreme caution.

"And friends forgive each other right?"

"Dammit, Alice what is going on?"

"I sort of ran into these two guys at the coffee shop on Friday. They were so sweet, and kind of good looking you know? So I asked them if they'd like to go out to dinner. On Saturday night. A double date. With Me, and You."

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the seat, trying to breathe in and out as slowly as possible.

"Oh my God, Bella. Please don't be mad at me. You were so sad on Thursday night after you called Edward. And I hate seeing you sad and depressed. I figured you could use a little cheering up. A distraction."

I opened my eyes to see her biting away at her fingernails. What the fuck was I going to do now? It's not like I could say no. We were already dressed up and on our way to meat them for fuck's sake.

"Alice…You owe me one."

"Oh thank god!" She breathed a huge sigh of relief. "No pressure, OK. Just think of it as a nice dinner with two friends"

"Two complete strangers, you mean"

"Well, two of my friends then"

"Alice, you only met them yesterday!"

"Please, Bella, just give it a try? It's dinner. That's all. It's 2 hours out of your life. You might hit it off with one of them. If not, we can drink our sorrows away afterwards… "

"Fine. But, like I said… You seriously owe me. Big Time"

"Deal"

Alice seemed to be happy with the way that conversation tuned out. A girl's night out, I could handle. But a blind date with two strangers that I find out about 5 minutes before I'm about to meet them? That was just too much.

"What are their names?"

"The tall dark one is Jacob, and the other one is Jasper. Jasper is mine" She winked.

I glared at her as we both got out of the Cab and made out way to the front door of the Hyde.

_Life's Challenges_, I thought to myself.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello readers! I am very happy to give you chapter 4… I seem to have made it past the '3 chapter curse' that plagued Meant to Be. What can I say, this story is a lot of fun to write?

Please _please_ review, or else I will think nobody wants to read this story and then I won't update! It's a little unnerving when 300+ people read a story but only 5 people review. I have written a few chapters ahead so if I see that people are enjoying the story I will post them up! Simple as that. Don't be shy. I love reviews 

I hope that you enjoy Bella being thrown out of her comfort zone, and Edward being the one to push her. I thoroughly enjoy writing it.

I was onto my 3rd cosmopolitan and we were only 45 minutes into the surprise dinner date that Alice had organized. I was officially over it. I was mentally scheming up ways to get her back for this while twirling my finger absentmindedly over the rim of my cocktail glass.

I looked over to see Alice was utterly engrossed in this Jasper fellow and had seemingly forgotten about me. She had forgotten about me and Jacob. Jasper was handsome. He was tall and lanky, with subtle muscle frame, and dirty blonde wavy hair. He was definitely Alice's 'type'. I wondered how long this relationship with Jasper would last. One week? Maybe two?

Jacob was nice, too. He was very tall, dark, muscular and had his boyish good looks going for him. He was younger than me, and he was a Mechanic. But to put it simply, he was just not my type. It wasn't his fault, I hadn't had a 'type' in four years. We had engaged in polite conversation since meeting, but it was clear to me that nothing would result out of this. I wasn't sure if Jacob felt the same way, as he was continually asking me questions about my life. About college, work, hobbies. I don't know, maybe he was just being polite. I sort of felt bad for him. Before I had even met him, he had no chance.

"Bella?"

"Yeah?" I blushed slightly, realizing that through my daydreaming, Jacob had been speaking and I hadn't heard a word.

"I asked you how long you have been living in Seattle for?" He looked at me with complete attention. He didn't seem to realize my mind had wandered. But could he really not be aware of the almost make-out session going on between Alice and Jasper right next to us?

"Oh, I'm sorry" I smiled weakly. "I've been living here for 3 years. I moved here straight after college."

"Really? I'm surprised I haven't seen you around before."

"Oh… I don't get out much" I was trying my best to maintain some level of attention to Jacob but I couldn't help but stare daggers at Alice. She was literally sitting on Jasper's lap now, with both her arms wrapped around his neck, whispering in his ear. Jasper had a big shit-eating grin on his face. She made me feel sick to my stomach. She made me feel jealous. Christ.

"Excuse me Jacob, I'll be back in a minute" I smiled at Jacob as I grabbed my purse and made my way to the ladies toilet. Just as I went to push the door in to enter, I was literally knocked out of the way by someone who had pushed the door out from the inside, exiting.

I managed to hold my balance and not fall ass over tit, but looked up to see who the offending person was. And I was gobsmacked. She was tall, with a long head of wavy bleach blonde hair, dressed in a baby pink, skin tight insanely short bandage dress, and the tallest black stilettos I have ever seen. What the fuck was with the bandage dresses tonight!? I tried to regain my composure. This woman was absolutely _stunning_. In the few seconds that we held eye contact I felt hatred, jealousy, envy, admiration and awe all at once. She was literally _sex on legs_.

"Excuse me" Her voice chimed at me. She smiled politely but walked off, seemingly not realizing that she had almost knocked me off my feet.

"Sorry" was all I could muster up, my voice croaking. I've got to be kidding right, she knocks me out of the way and _I_ apologise?

I shook my head and made my way into the bathroom. Reaching into my purse to grab my compact, I began to touch up my makeup. My mind began to wonder again.

That girl just made me feel _seriously_ insecure. She was just gorgeous. How could any normal person not feel insecure compared to her? I knew that I was pretty, I loved my long brunette hair, although I could never get it to look right without Alice's help. And I had bright green eyes that I thought were pretty cool. Alice was always telling me that I didn't see myself clearly. I didn't think that I was what you would call "sexy" and even if I was sexy, I wouldn't be the type of girl to go around flaunting it. I was just a regular, normal, average 24 year old.

I began to think back to what Emmett had told me when I got home from phoenix.

"_Maybe you will make your own leap of faith"_

He was right. I needed to make a change. It can't be healthy to think like this. I needed to boost my self-esteem. My sex appeal. Heck, I was on a date with a nice guy. What better oppourtunity? Maybe Emmett wasn't referring to my sex life, but that is how I am going to interpret his advice right now in my slightly buzzed state. How was I ever going to break my four year drought if I didn't put myself out there? I closed my compact and decided to take a piece of advice from Alice.

"_It's just sex, Bella"_

I was going to do this. I was going to get laid… and Jacob… would be the lucky guy. He was nice. He wasn't bad looking, and I was pretty sure that he liked me. Maybe there might be chemistry there after all? And if there wasn't chemistry, I would make some.

I clicked my compact shut and looked myself in the mirror, trying to look as confident and sexy as possible. I shook up my hair and turned on my heel, out of the door, full of imaginary confidence.

By the time I got back to the table, our meals had been served. I was a little bit relieved that Jacob wouldn't be able to talk as much if he had his mouth full. Jacob seemed to be a guy whose sexual attractiveness was directly related to the amount of speaking he did. The less talk, the better in my opinion.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Dinner went without a hitch after that. I flirted obviously with Jacob, although I am not sure how successful I was. I absolutely did not know how to flirt, and I don't really want to know how I must have come across. The aim of the game was making sure Jacob knew that I wanted to fuck him.

The taxi pulled up to the entrance of the club, and we all climbed out. Alice went right up to the bouncer, gave him a kiss on the cheek and gestured for us to follow her. I rolled my eyes as the moans and complaints from the line of people sounded throughout the street. As we entered the dark purple lit room, the loud bass pounded in my ears, and I began to dance slowly as we walked to the VIP area that Alice had booked. The only time I ever danced was when I was thoroughly drunk. Jacob was leading me past the bouncers, holding my hand, and as he turned around to scream into my ear so that I could hear him, I pressed my lips hard against his. There wasn't any tongue, but I ever-so-slightly bit his bottom lip as I pulled away. He seemed a bit taken a back but I could tell he liked it by the smile on his face. Mission accomplished.

I couldn't deny the thrill that I felt doing that. I felt pretty damn good about myself, and I even felt a little bit excited, but I didn't feel the electricity. There was no instant connection with Jacob, it just felt a bit wrong. But that wouldn't stop me from trying.

The four of us chilled out in the VIP booth for the rest of the night, talking and laughing. Thankfully, Alice had realized that this was in fact a double date, and joined in the conversation along with Jasper.

Emmett ended up joining us after about an hour. Jacob has tensed up immediately, and It took me a few seconds to realize that he was threatened my Emmett. _If only he knew_, I thought to myself. Emmett bought a bottle of Johnnie Walker and a shot glass and sat in our booth with us.

"I had the worst date" He moaned as he poured a shot and drank it. Actually, he practically inhaled it.

"Aww, poor Emmy Bear" Alice chided, rubbing her hand up and down his huge upper arm.

"I'm sick of going on dates with boring, shallow, self-absorbed Barbie dolls, Al. I need to find myself a real woman" He spread his hands out across the table and placed his head in between them, groaning.

And, just as I knew Emmett, a split second later he was over his problem.

"Holy Cow, look at that fine little piece of work!" He practically bounded back up. I looked over to see who he was talking about. A tall, blonde curvy woman had her back to us, talking to a gentleman who was out of sight from where we were sitting. I realized that it was the woman who had bumped into me at dinner. Great, I thought. Emmett was clearly enjoying the view.

"Dayum!" Emmett exclaimed, pouring another shot and inhaling it. "I need to get to know her".

I waiting for him to get up and walk over to her, but he just sat there, continually pouring and inhaling. Wow, it must have been a _really_ bad date.

Jacob had his arm over the back of the booth, touching my shoulder gently as we spoke. It didn't creep me out but it just didn't feel right. He had tried to kiss me again later on but I had awkwardly avoided it by pretending to fish something out of my purse.

And even though I kept trying to convince myself that I wanted to have sex with Jacob tonight, there was something in the back of my head that just kept on screaming 'no'. My mind was jumping back and forth.

After four years, did I really want to get with some complete stranger? I know that Alice had met him once before, but that didn't mean anything. Should I not wait for someone special? It wasn't that I was frigid or uptight about sex; I just hadn't had the opportunity. But now, I _did_… After four long years… what did it matter?

Unfortunately, I couldn't decide which side of the fence I wanted to stand on. And time was running out. I was going to need another drink.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I stood at the bar, trying to get the attention of one of the bartenders, unsuccessfully. The place was packed. All the thoughts I had running through my head had made me feel a little crazy and I needed a bit of numbing. I decided to hit the bar for a few minutes of alone time.

"What can I get you miss?" Finally. I was thirsty.

"Can I get a cosmopolitan and a quick fuck please?" I couldn't help but catch the irony of ordering a shot called a 'quick fuck'. I briefly wondered if Jacob was a quick fuck…

"Sure, that'll be $15.60" I bobbed my body up and down to the beat of the music, looking around at the people either side of me at the bar.

I handed over my money as the bartender placed the shot and cocktail in front of me. I grabbed the shot, and downed it instantly. I then grabbed the cosmopolitan, and put the glass to my lips taking a mouthful, as I turned around to walk away from the bar.

But, what I saw next caused me to literally spit my mouthful of drink out. The Cranberry coloured liquid shot out at least 2 feet in front of me. Luckily there was nobody standing that close to me. But, a few more feet ahead was _Edward fucking Cullen_.

Edward Fucking Cullen was standing next to the girl that I literally ran into at the toilet at Hyde. The shock caused me to dropped my cocktail glass and it smashed loudly onto the ground surrounding my feet, causing more than a few people to turn around and eye me off suspiciously.

"Fuck, damn it" I cursed to myself. I tried to squat down, but the dress I had on was making it rather difficult. I quickly brushed my hair in front of my face so that he wouldn't see me. I began to pick up the largest shards of glass.

Oh my God, how could this happen? Could I have been anymore fucking obvious and stupid? A large figure made his way over to me with a dustpan and brush and I was relieved to see it was only one of the bartenders.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to… I got a startle and I just dropped it"

"I can see that" The bartender glared at me as he began sweeping up the smaller shards. Great, even the bartender was giving me attitude. I guess I can't blame him. I can't imagine how many intoxicated people drop their glasses here nightly.

"Let me get you a replacement". A deep voice interrupted, and it took me a second to realize that it wasn't the bartender that was talking to me. I looked up to see that the beautiful voice belonged to the only person I was trying to hide from.

"Edward" was all I could muster up to say.

"Good Evening Isabella. How are you?" He smiled at me, reaching his hand down to guide me up. I took it, not knowing whether to let go of it or not.

"Oh… Fine. I'm being my usual clumsy self as you can see…" I began to laugh nervously at myself, looking down at the mess I created.

Edward chuckled, and then gestured towards the bar.

"What were you drinking?"

"Oh no, really, that's not necessary… I…"

"Bella, please" He interrupted. He spoke with such authority that I found myself instantly paying attention to him, and strangely turned on. I lifted my jaw up off the ground and tried to choke out a response.

"A Cosmopolitan, please" I smiled weakly up at him, hopelessly batting my eyelashes.

"A Cosmopolitan for the lady please… And I'll have a Jack Daniels on the rocks" He got the attention of the bartender in seconds. What was it with this guy? I had to grip the bar with my hand to keep from falling over in his presence.

"What are you doing here?" I suddenly realized. He had a date… The reason why he didn't want to go out with me, was because he already had a date, with the Toilet Girl. Perfect, and I had just interrupted it. Emmett was not going to be happy.

I looked back to where Edward was previously standing with the girl, only to see her walking off to her group of friends. Typical.

"Bella, you make it sound like I'm not allowed to come out on a Saturday night?" He raised an eyebrow at me and I stared in wonder as he smiled that same crooked smile that I first noticed the night we met.

"Oh. Oh, No! I was just…"

"Bella" He interrupted me again, chuckling to himself. I was speechless.

"It's my sisters 24th birthday". He gestured over at the tall busty blonde he was standing next to moments before. She was laughing loudly amongst her friends, her elbows resting against the table and he back and bottom arched out behind her.

"That's… that's your sister?" I was gobsmacked. And relieved. And excited. What was with all my emotions tonight?

"Yes, that's Rosalie. She's uh… Not exactly subtle is she?"

I was pretty sure he was referring to her choice of outfit, so I continued our conversation under this assumption.

"Well, no. But she's gorgeous. I mean, If I had assets like that I would probably flaunt it too"

I looked at him nervously. Was I seriously gushing to him about his sister's looks?

"Bella, you are much more beautiful" I watched as his gaze flickered down for a few slow seconds, down to my shoulders, breasts, hips, legs and feet and then his eyes seductively make their way back up to my face.

I felt utterly giddy, and as my face flushed a deep crimson red, I tried to smile as seductively as I could, twirling the short straw around my cocktail glass. Edward's hand reached out, cupping my cheek with his palm.

"That blush… makes you look irresistible"

I was sure I could have fainted right then and there, but I was brought straight back to reality seconds later.

"Bella?"

I looked to my side, to see the voice belonged to Jacob who was standing next to us, with a very confused and pissed off look on his face. I felt Edward's hand drop to his side.

"Jacob, hey. This… This is Edward. Edward this is Jacob"

Edward extended out his hand to shake Jacob's, but Jacob's hand stayed put inside his jean pocket. This really pissed me off for some reason, Edward was just trying to be a gentleman and Jacob was being rude. Who was he to get possessive of me? I had known him for five hours.

"What are you doing?" He accused

"I was just…" I looked over at Edward, but he was ordering another drink from the bar. Christ, what the hell was I doing?

"I was just catching up with a… friend"

Jacob looked over at Edward, clearly assessing him.

"Well, Alice and Jasper want to leave, So…" I waited for him to finish the sentence, but that was apparently it. So… What? Was I supposed to ditch Edward and go home with Jacob _now_? There was no WAY that I could have sex with Jacob now. My loins were aching for one man, and one man only.

"Oh, okay… well I'll meet you guys outside ok?" I tried to smile confidently. Hopefully it would give me a few minutes with Edward…

"Fine" Jacob skulked off. I waited for him to be out the door before I turned back to Edward. He looked slightly pissed.

"Was he the reason you didn't give my secretary your number?" He asked, still with a confident air about him. He looked like he was trying to be disinterested, or maybe he really didn't care. I couldn't read him at all in my inebriated state. Boy, this whole situation made me really confused.

"What?" It took me a few seconds to comprehend what he was saying.

" No… I… I only met Jacob like, a few hours ago. My friend Alice set me up on a blind date and…" I gestured with my hand that this whole situation was nothing and began laughing awkwardly.

"Then why didn't you leave your number, Bella?" Again with the interrupting? Damn, he was angry and it was making me hot all over.

I grabbed the remains of my cosmopolitan and swallowed it down hard.

"I didn't leave my number, Edward, because I honestly thought you didn't want to hear from me…" I started to blush again. I looked down and began fumbling with my purse.

"Why would I say that I would call you if I didn't want to call you then?"

"I don't know… I thought you were just being polite" I looked up to see his face had softened slightly.

"Bella, if there is one thing you need to know about me, it's that I never lie." I was now blushing severely. I could feel my heart beating hard in my chest, and I hoped that Edward couldn't actually see my heart thumping through my super thin dress.

"Do you want me to call you?" He asked, placing his hand on the bar, opposite mine. Out fingertips touched ever so slightly.

"Yes.. I, Of course" He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Then give me your number now".

He reached into his jean pocket, and I took a moment to linger in that general area before his iPhone appeared in my vision.

I took the phone off him and stared at it for a for minutes, furrowing my brow. I looked back up at him

"I… I can't… I don't…"

He chuckled to himself before taking the phone off me and typing in my number himself. I couldn't help it if I couldn't work his phone. Technology wasn't exactly my thing. He placed it back into his pocket and smiled at me.

"I had better go…"

Edward looked up and coughed loudly.

"Of course. It was a lovely surprise to run into you, Isabella" God this guy knew exactly how to make me melt. I was speechless. All I could do was smile my stupid giddy smile and walk towards the door.

I turned around and waved goodbye before exiting the club.

The cold Seattle air hit me like a brick wall. It was freezing. I wrapped my hands around my torso and rubbed my shoulders visciously. I breathed in deeply, closing my eyes for a few seconds, just letting the last few minutes sink in.

I heard the door to the club open again because a short burst of music hit my ears before it stopped. I turned around to see Edward taking his jacket off. Before I could let my mind wander too much into that fantasy, he placed it over my shoulders. I looked down at it, touching the jacket with my hands. It smelled _Amazing_. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, and then looked up to see Edward re-entering the club. He didn't say a word.

I don't know how, but that was the single most sweetest and sexiest thing a guy had ever done for me, and the whole wordless exchange happened right in front of Jasper, Alice and Jacob. I looked over at them to see Alice smiling from ear to ear, whispering to Jasper, and Jacob with a feral angry look on his face.

I made my way over to them. They had already hailed a taxi for Alice and I. The boys would be getting the next one. Alice and Jasper made out furiously as I looked awkwardly at Jacob.

"Thank you for a nice night, Jacob." What was I supposed to say? I felt like I had cheated on him. Even though he wasn't my boyfriend and that I never actually had intercourse with Edward. Why was I being so stupid? Jacob had no right to make me feel guilty. Or maybe I was just making myself feel guilty?

"See you later, Bella". He responded, icily. Oh well, was all I could think. There was only room for one man in my head right now, and Jacob was not that man.

Alice and I jumped into the taxi, and she waved back at Jasper as the cab driver began to make his way back to our apartment.

She turned and looked at me with the brightest, most excited look on her face.

"Isabella Marie Swan, you have some explaining to do!"


	5. Chapter 5

Hello All. For those of you who are utterly surprised to see an update, join the club. This chapter, although short, is one which says "I'm alive, and I'm writing again!". So please, read and review. Yell at me for taking so long to update if you must, I completely understand. I know it's short and it will probably leave most of you unsatisfied, but trust me, the coming chapters will hopefully be worth the wait. This is a nice little transition piece that will join my last update to the coming chapters. Go back and re-read the previous chapters if you like. Anyway, enjoy :) Please review, so I know people are still reading this and want more.

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I woke early Sunday morning with an ache in my head and an ache in my loins. I was at the point between consciousness and sleep. I was in a lucid, transient state. Vaguely aware of the sounds of birds chirping outside my window, and the sun peeking through my curtains. Blurred images of a faceless man swirled around in my head as I tried in vain to pretend the world didn't exist right now. All I wanted was to go back to sleep… To go back to that dream… I squeezed my eyes shut in the hope that I could have this…

"_I am going to kiss you, Isabella". The man's voice was deep and he spoke with an authority that I couldn't deny. His hands were placed firmly around my waist, as he pushed me hard against an old cement wall. His fingers were digging into my skin so deep, I was sure that he would cut me, or at the very least leave a bruise._

_I could only moan in response. Around him, speech seemed like too difficult a possibility._

_My chin pushed forward in response, my lips eager to meet his. My eyes closed, I couldn't find his._

"_Are you deaf, Isabella? I said I was going to kiss you, not the other way around." I opened my eyes to meet his stern, serious face through my lashes. Feeling embarrassed, my body retreated against the wall, and my face flushed with heat. _

"_If you don't do as I say, you'll get nothing at all from me…" His hand reached up to caress my red, blushing cheek. I closed my eyes, still unable to respond, as a single finger slid along my jaw line. His hand then quickly grabbed my neck and pushed my head back against the wall behind us. He held me there, lingering on the threshold of causing actual pain. His hand firm, I could sense his face moving closer to mine. An electricity coursed through my body as his torso pushed closer toward me until it was firmly placed against mine. I could feel his heat, positioned so excruciatingly symmetrical to mine. _

_A low moan coursed through my body as I could feel him, his lips, so close to mine. His breath was hot, as I pursed his lips, ready to feel the electricity between us surge…_

*Knock Knock*

"Bellaaa!!"

I moaned, this nameless faceless man was sounding very feminine all of a sudden…

I heard a slow creak, footsteps and then the weight shifted on my bed before I was grabbed by my shoulders and shaken violently.

"Bella!"

I opened my eyes, and the shock of being so unceremoniously dragged away from my dream, mixed with seeing Alice's face right up close to mine, caused me to scream. I jumped upright in fright and frustration, and shimmied back against my bed head, trying to preserve my modesty with my bed sheet.

"Jesus CHRIST ALICE! You scared the fuck out of me!" I panted, my breath hitched and my heart in my mouth, thumping away.

"Bella, are you ok?" The pixie reached out and placed her hand over my forehead. "You are running a fever! You're covered in sweat!" She exclaimed.

I placed my own hand across my chest and looked down, only to find my singlet covered in moisture.

"I… I'm fine Alice. It's just a little hot—It's stuffy in here right? It's really stuffy… Are you hot?"

I jumped up and pushed my curtains across, and opened the window. Droplets of sweat were running down me, as I stuck my head out the window, trying viciously to cool down, and calm down.

After a few moments, when the cool winter air had begun to give me a chill, I turned around to see Alice spread across my bed with an amused expression on her face. I raised my eyebrow at her, but she didn't respond. Instead, she jumped up, grabbed a towel and threw it at me.

"Go and clean yourself up, Bella. I've made us some wheatgrass shots."

"Ew…"I screwed my nose up at the thought.

Alice smiled. "Oh shut up, they have all sorts of important vitamins and minerals in them- Guaranteed to make you feel better after a big night out. And then we're going out to lunch. We have much to discuss."

"Alice, I have a lot of work to catch up on. I was planning on just editing my manuscripts today" I tried to protest, but I knew it would be of no use.

"Bella, I don't care if the fucking President was waiting on you to edit his speech- It can wait until Monday, when you actually get paid to work. Today, we have much more important things to discuss!" She gave me a stern look as she left my room.

I sat down on my bed for a few minutes to process everything- The blind date with Jacob. An unexpected surprise from Edward, and the feeling I had being around him, as opposed to the feeling I had being with Jacob. The dream I had this morning… It was lingering. I couldn't get it out of my head. I looked over at my bedside table to check the time- 10:45am, when I saw a familiar, dark object thrown over the one-seater I had in the corner of my room. A jacket… Edward's Jacket! I lunged over and scooped it up in my hands. I brought it to my face and inhaled the scent deeply. It was musk and sandalwood, mixed in with the cigarettes and Johnnie Walker from the club last night. It was amazingly, ridiculously… intense. I put it back on the couch, smiling as I realized that this Jacket was a golden ticket. An excuse to see him again… And boy did I want to see him again. My centre ached at the thought of it.

My euphoria didn't last long though as my headache pounded away in my skull, demanding attention. I dragged myself to the bathroom and let the water wash away my pain.


End file.
